Briefing:NEC elections – guidance for parties, branches & networks From: Karen Wilkie For attention of: All Party Officers, Party Branch Secretaries, Party Council Secretaries Published: 12th December 2022 Last updated: 7th February 2023 Printed: 10th November 2024 Other formats: Print Self-nominations for elections to the NEC for 2023-26 open on Monday 12 November and branches and party councils will be able to submit supporting nominations in February. See here for information about the election and timetable. Elections to the Co-operative Party National Executive Committee take place every three years. Members elected in 2023 (and at subsequent by-elections) will serve from June until the next NEC is elected in 2026. After the closing date for self-nominations and hustings, local parties and branches will be invited to submit supporting nominations. Details of the candidates will be posted on the website. Summary of key dates 12 December 2022 Self-nominations open 12 February 2023 Closing date for self-nominations 15-22 February 2023 National/Regional zoom hustings 23 February – 11 March 2023 Branch & party council supporting nomination meetings 12 March 2023 Closing date for receipt of branch and party council supporting nominations 3 April 2023 Ballot opens 5 May 2023 Ballots close 10/11 June 2023 Induction & AGM for new NEC Membership of the NEC Following the rule change agreed at the Society AGM in 2022, the NEC will have 24 voting members from June 2023. These are set out below. For detailed guidance on who can seek election in each seat, see the NEC Election 2023 – Guidance for Candidates. One each from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales Elected by and from individual members by one member, one vote. For these seats, the election in 2023 will be open to any member who meets the criteria. For future elections, if a seat was held by a man, at the election following his retirement or ineligibility to seek re-election, that election will only be open to women. Eight from England Elected by and from individual members in four sections, two per section. The sections are: England East and London: members in the East and London regions England Midlands: members in the East Midlands and West Midlands regions England North: members in the North East & Cumbria, North West and Yorkshire & Humber regions England South: members in the South East and South West regions. Individual members in each section will each have two votes. The woman with the highest number of votes will be elected and the second seat will go to candidate with the highest votes who is from a different region. If there are no candidates from another region, the candidate with the next highest number of votes will be elected. If none of the candidates in a section are women, one seat will remain vacant pending a by-election open only to female candidates. One member each: BAME, (dis)Ability and LGBTQ+ networks These are elected by and from individual members of each network. For these seats, the election in 2023 will be open to any member who meets the criteria. For future elections, if a seat was held by a man, at the election following his retirement or ineligibility to seek re-election, that election will only be open to women. One youth representative Elected by individual members aged 30 and under. Candidates must be under 27 at the date of nomination. As this is not a new seat, the NEC has determined that for 2023, the existing rules will continue for the Youth representative i.e., if the 2020-23 NEC member retires or is not eligible to seek re-election in 2023, the election for this seat will be open to women only. The current member has confirmed that he will not be seeking re-election, so for this election this seat will only be open to women candidates. Two members appointed by the Co-operative Group At least one to be a woman. Two members elected by retail Societies other than the Co-operative Group At least one to be a woman. One member elected by non-retail Societies and affiliates. For this seat, the election in 2023 will be open to any member who meets the criteria. For future elections, if a seat was held by a man, at the election following his retirement or ineligibility to seek re-election, that election will only be open to women. Two members of the Westminster Parliamentary Group At least one to be a woman. These are appointed by the Westminster Co-operative Parliamentary Group. Two members elected by and from official Co-operative Party elected representatives other than the Westminster Parliamentary Group This election is open to all current Labour and Co-operative Members of the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, London Assembly, Police & Crime Commissioners, Elected Mayors or Councillors who stood as ‘Labour and Co-operative’ at their most recent election or were endorsed by their local Co-operative Party as co-operative candidates. Labour and Co-operative MSP, MS, AM, PCC, elected mayors and councillors will have two votes. The woman with the highest number of votes will be elected. The second seat will go to the candidate with the next highest votes. If none of the candidates in a section are women, one seat will remain vacant pending a by-election open only to female candidates. Nominations and supporting nominations The fifteen individual members’ places, together with the two seats for elected representatives, are open for self-nomination. Additionally, for the twelve national and regional places, party councils and branches will also be invited to submit up to two supporting nominations. See above for key dates when you should arrange your supporting nomination meetings. Nominations National, Regional, BAME, (dis)Ability, LGBTQ+, Youth, Elected Representative For this election, we are inviting members to self-nominate for the national, regional, BAME, (dis)Ability, LGBTQ+, Youth and elected representative places. Self-nominations will open 12 December 2022 for elections to the NEC for 2023-26. The closing date is 12 noon on 5 February 2022. Nominations must be submitted via the Civica website. Co-operative Group, other Retail Societies, other affiliates Information and forms will be sent to Societies and other affiliates in December. To seek election to the NEC as one of the representatives of the Co-operative Group, other retail Society or affiliate, members should contact the Secretary of the relevant organisation to request a nomination. The closing date for nominations for these seats is 12 March 2023. Hustings Following close of self-nominations, there will be an on-line hustings, open to all members eligible to vote in that section. These will be organised centrally and zoom registration details will be sent to all eligible members in January. Date Who can attend 7pm, Monday 15 February Wales All members in Wales 6pm, Monday 20 February Scotland All members in Scotland 7.30pm, Monday 20 February England North All members in the NE & Cumbria, North West and Yorkshire & Humber Regions 6pm, Tuesday 21 February Northern Ireland All members in Northern Ireland 7.30pm, Tuesday 21 February England Midlands All members in the East Midlands and West Midlands Regions 6pm, Wednesday 22 February England East and London All members in the East and London Regions 7.30pm, Wednesday 22 February England South All members in the South East and South West Regions 7pm, Monday 13 March BAME All members of the BAME network 7pm, Tuesday 14 March (dis)Ability All members of the (dis)Ability network 7pm, Wednesday 15 March Youth All members aged 30 and under 7pm, Thursday 16 March LGBTQ+ All members of the LGBTQ+ network 7pm, Tuesday 21 March Elected members Members of the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, London Assembly, Police & Crime Commissioners, Elected Mayors or Councillors who stood as ‘Labour and Co-operative’ at their most recent election or were endorsed by their local Co-operative Party as co-operative candidates Supporting nominations from Party Councils and Branches After the closing date, valid nominations will be forwarded to party councils and branches in the relevant nations or sections to enable them to submit supporting nominations. Each party council and branch may make up to two supporting nominations, at least one of which must be for a woman. If there are no female candidates, the branch or party may nominate one man only. Valid supporting nominations must be made at a quorate meeting to which all eligible members have been invited. Information in support of the candidates will be available on the Party’s website and no other materials should be circulated. Candidates should not attend supporting nomination meetings. The exception to this is a candidates’ own branch, where they may speak and vote. Ideally, you should schedule your party council or branch meeting to take place after the hustings for your nation or region, when members will have had a chance to hear the candidates speak and submit questions. Key dates: the closing date for submitting supporting nominations is 12 March. Ballot The election for the fifteen places elected by individual members is being conducted by Civica. Links to vote will be emailed to members and will take place on line. Members who do not have an email address will be sent a postal vote but will be encouraged to vote on line if they can. To be eligible to vote, members must be current, not lapsed, and have applied to join the Party on or before 26 November 2022. Although candidates may only seek election to one seat, members may vote in as many sections as they are qualified to e.g. a councillor aged 30 or under will receive a link to vote for their regional section, the elected members’ section, the youth member and for any networks they are a member of. The ballot will open on 3 April 2023 and close on 5 May 2023. Action Points Schedule your supporting nomination meetingThis should be between 23 February and 11 March Check the date of the hustings Resources Link to NEC Election 2023 Guidance for Officers Guidance for Candidates NEC elections – guidance for parties, branches & networks